“Hart of IRELAND” 03rd - 14th July, 2018

Details Tuesday 03rd: Depart USA for Dublin, Ireland 10 nights/12 days Depart USA on your overnight flight to Ireland.

Highlights Wednesday 04th: Mullingar - Tullamore Dew - Mullingar  Eddie Lenihan Arrive Dublin. After clearing customs & immigration your driver/guide will be waiting to  Tullamore Dew greet you. Journey across the country and enjoy your welcome to Ireland with a visit to  Clara Bog Tullamore Dew, one of Irelands oldest whiskeys. Continue a little further north from here  Corlea Trackway and overnight in Mullingar. Enjoy a welcome dinner at your hotel.  Aran Islands  Ceide Fields Thursday 05th: Clara Bog & Hill of Uisneach  Clonmacnoise This morning we travel to Clara Bog Visitor Centre for a guided tour of Clara Bog to learn of these ancient fuel sources and amazing finds within the different bogs. From Clara, we Dates: 03rd - 14th, July journey to the mythological and spiritual centre of Ireland at the Hill of Uisneach. We will have a guided tour and learn of its many ancient monuments and Eiru, from whom Cost: $3,476 per person based on Ireland is named, buried beneath the Catstone here. Return to Mullingar for dinner and sharing a room overnight.

journeys.com - Single Supplement Friday 06th: Ballina - Corlea Trackway $750.00 We travel to the town of Longford and a visit to Corlea Trackway, and follow in the footsteps of the Celts and how they used this Trackway to traverse the bogs and cross Plus Air approximately the country in ancient times. We continue to Ballina for dinner and overnight. $1,200 in May www.celtic Saturday 07th: Mullet Peninsula & Ceide Fields Daytour on the Mullet Peninsula, including a visit to the Ceide Fields, the oldest known Included in your trip: field systems in the world. Over five thousand years of history lies buried in the bog  Accommodation for 10 nights with breakfast each located overlooking the wild Atlantic Ocean. Continue out along Black Sod Bay and morning spend some time in Belmullet before returning to Ballina for overnight with evening at  6 evening dinners leisure.  Transportation with a professional driver-guide Sunday 08th: Westport - Achill Island & Achill Field School  Ferry and tour of Aran Depart Ballina and journey towards Clew Bay towards Achill Island and a visit to the Islands Achill Field School. Continue on to Westport for dinner and overnight.  Storytelling with Eddie Lenihan Monday 09th: Museum of Country Life  Tullamore Dew Leisurely breakfast and the morning free to explore Westport on your own. In the after-  Hill of Uisneach noon, we will take a trip to Castlebar to visit the Museum of Country Life to learn about  Corlea Trackway rural life in Mayo. Return to Westport, where you are free for dinner and maybe music in  Ceide Fields Matt Molloy’s pub.  Achill Field School  Museum of Country Life Tuesday 10th: Galway Leenane - Kylemore Abbey & Eddie Lenihan  Kylemore Abbey Leaving Westport, we travel through the Delphi Valley, renowned as the Famine Trail  Clonmacnoise and continue along Clew Bay to the village of Leenane (Leenaun). From here we contin-  Walking tour in Dublin ue to Kylemore Abbey, home to the Benedictine order. Continue through Connemara to

Not Included: Galway for dinner and overnight. After dinner, you are joined by storyteller Eddie  International Airfare Lenihan, for fairy tales of Ireland.  Items of a personal nature (laundry, telephone, etc)  Gratuities for your driver- guide, recommended EUR 7 per person per day Wednesday 11th: Aran Islands & Dun Aengus Take the short journey to Rossaveel where you take the ferry to the Aran Islands. Take the minibus tour of the Islands and time to visit the Ring Fort at Dun Aengus. Return to the mainland and to Galway where you are free to enjoy the many restaurants and pubs for dinner this evening.

Thursday 12th: Clonmacnoise & Dublin - (2 Nights) Depart Galway after breakfast and as you make your way across the midlands, visit to the 6th century monastic settlement founded by St. Ciaran on the banks of the River Shannon. Continue directly to Dublin for afternoon arrival and enjoy a panoramic tour of the city to acquaint you with the historic sites. The even- ing is at leisure for dinner on your own.

Friday 13th: Walking Tour Dublin & Farewell Dinner We start this morning with a walking tour with Lorcan Collins highlighting the history of the 1916 Rising. The remainder of the afternoon free to explore the city. A farewell dinner tonight to share the memories of the tour.

Saturday 14th: Dublin to the USA Depart Dublin Airport on your return flight to the USA.

Options available for extending your stay in Ireland before or after the tour . Erin will make sure that you experience music with locals as you tour throughout Ireland .

Erin Hart: Erin came to writing quite late, and by way of her first love, theater. Starting graduate school in the mid-1980’s the available choices were business administration or creative writing – she chose writing by default, and embarked on a second career as a freelance arts journalist and theater critic. Throughout the 1980’s, her work appeared in print in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Star and Tribune and Minnesota Monthly

While visiting Ireland one summer, Erin heard an intriguing tale about a beautiful red haired girl whose perfectly preserved head was discovered in a desolate Irish bog. That true story was the inspiration for her first debut novel, “Haunted Ground”, the first in a planned series of crime novels set mostly in Ireland, revolving around archaeology, forensics, history, traditional music and folklore.

“People often ask why I chose Ireland as a setting, and I have to say that I think Ireland chose me”